Teachers, nurses, police, cleaners and civil servants in Western Australia have been offered a six per cent pay rise to cushion rising inflation.
The WA Government has increased its pay offer for 150,000 public sector workers by three per cent a year over the next two years to 2.75 per cent, along with an additional $2500 sign-on bonus.
Premier Mark McGowan said the move was in response to cost-of-living pressures and would cost the state budget an extra $634 million over the next four years.
Watch the latest news on Channel 7 or stream it for free on 7plus >>
“This is designed to ensure that there is fairness across all sectors and that the public sector … is properly rewarded in the environment we’re in,” he told reporters on Sunday.
The changes will come immediately to the workforce that has already accepted the state government’s previous offer, including public hospital teachers and doctors.
Lower-paid workers will get a bigger proportional pay increase through the sign-on bonus, with a patient care assistant making just over $55,000 a year effectively getting a 7.5 percent pay increase during the first year.
Perth’s consumer price index rose 1.7% in the June quarter, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data released last week, pushing its annual inflation rate higher well above the national average up to 7.4%.
The McGowan government posted a $5.7 billion surplus in this year’s state budget, which included a one-off electricity credit of $400 for every household.
But the prime minister said the new policy was his latest offer, stressing that the government cannot afford to match the private sector pay rises it has been paid.
“We will never be able to compete with the mining industry, no industry can,” he said.
“But a job in the public sector is a safe job. It’s a good job. It’s one we want to reward appropriately and make sure everyone gets a decent pay rise.”
Health workers and other public servants in WA have been pushing for a pay rise of more than 2.75 per cent, with some holding walkouts outside Perth hospitals in recent weeks.
McGowan hopes the improved offer will be enough to stop any strike action, saying it is more generous than those proposed to public sector workers in NSW and Victoria.
“We’ve provided something that no other state has, which is the blanket sign-on bonus,” he said.
“Other states have done this for certain parts of the workforce, but not the entire workforce. We want to make sure the entire workforce is recognized, especially since with COVID-19 everyone is putting their shoulder behind the wheel.” .